The Defence Ministry has decided to deploy indigenously developed surface-to-surface ‘Pralay’ ballistic missiles near India’s borders with China and Pakistan.

What are Tactical Missiles?

• Generally, short-range missiles are termed tactical while long-range missiles are termed strategic.
• A missile which is used to destroy tactical targets of enemy like bunkers, mortar position, artillery position etc. is tactical missile.
• Battlefield missiles are tactical while long-range missiles targeting bigger targets like cities are termed strategic.
• Features of these missiles include-

1. Versatile range: Tactical missiles fills the gap between long range rockets and short range ballistic missiles , and have range mainly about 100 to 200 kms .
2. Very high precision and accuracy: These missiles are highly accurate, and can destroy small steady and moving targets with high accuracy.

About ‘Pralay’ Missile

• Pralay is a Hindi word which means “apocalypse” or “to cause great destruction” or “damage”.
• The Pralay missile project was sanctioned in 2015 and is a derivative of the Prahaar missile programme, which was first tested in 2011.
• Developed by the DRDO, the ‘Pralay’ ballistic missile is a canisterised tactical, surface-to-surface, and short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) for battlefield use.
• It can hit targets from a distance of 150 to 500 km and is extremely difficult to intercept by enemy interceptor missiles.
• Pralay is powered by a solid fuel rocket motor and is a high explosive preformed fragmentation warhead that weighs somewhere between 350 kg to 700 kg.
• It also accounts for its Penetration-Cum-Blast (PCB) and Runaway Denial Penetration Submunitions (RDPS).

Unique features of Pralay

• Precise targeting: The missile is designed to destroy enemy radar, communication installations, command centres and airfields.
• Quasi Ballistic Trajectory: It means the object takes a low curved path after being shot.
• Stealth features: Pralay has the ability to evade any anti-ballistic missile (ABM) interceptors by performing mid-air manoeuvres by using a manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle.
• Destruction capability: When a high-explosive warhead, like the one Pralay missile is equipped with, explodes, its pieces are thrown at a high speed which can inflict heavy damage.

What makes Pralay lethal?

• The Indian missile can be compared to China’s Dong Feng 12 and the Russian Iskander missile that has been used in the ongoing war with Ukraine.
• The US Army is in the process of increasing the range of a similar short-range ballistic missile called the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM).
• What makes Pralay deadly is that it is a quasi-ballistic weapon, which means that while it has a low trajectory and is largely ballistic, it can manoeuvre in flight.
• Unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles that exit the Earth’s atmosphere, short-range ballistic missiles stay within it.

What lies ahead?

• Pralay, along with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, will form the crux of India’s planned Rocket Force — a concept that was envisaged by former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the late General Bipin Rawat.
• Only conventional missiles would come under the planned Rocket Force as and when it’s ready, while nuclear weapons would continue to be under the ambit of the Strategic Forces Command.

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